William h



-2l Sheetssheef 1. i

(No Model.)

3W. E. BARROWS.,

STREET SWEEPER.

, -..ffii w w a 1 M .w d

e .Tu a P M WITNESSES:

UNITED i STATES Y WILLIAM II. BARROws, vor BROOKLYN, NEw YORK, AssIeNOETo BROOKLYNRAILWAY sUPPLY COMPANY.

PATENT OFFICE.

THE

STREET-SWEEPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of .Letters Patent No. 423,718, dated March 18, 1890.

' `Application filed June 4, 1888.

.'Zo a/KZZ whom it mayconcern:

Be it known that lI, WILLIAM H. BARROWS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, Kings county, New York, have invented certainY Improvements in Street- Sweepers, of which the following is a specilication. j

My invention relates to that class of sweeping-machines known as street-sweepers, and` which employ a revolving broom driven through the ground-wheels of the machine; and myv object is in part to improve the means employed forisuspending the broom and in part to improve the disengaging gear or device. v Y

My invention will be fully described hereinafter, and its novel features carefully defined in theclaims.

In the drawings which serve to illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a plan of a sweeper embodying my improvements, a part .of the platform or bed of the vehicle being broken away to show the mechanism below it. Fig.

2 is a side elevation of the main portion of the sweeper, the near wheel of the vehiclebeing removed andthe hub thereof shown in` section. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the disengaging mechanism, which will be hereinafter described.

A is the platform or bed of the vehicle.

-B B are the ground-wheels.

C is the axle, which is rotatively mounted in'bearings a, a on the frame of the bed, and

- D is the broom arranged under the bed and y b b of which the obliquelyto the axle C. v

E is a shaft mounted rotatively in bearings under the platform A. This shaft stands obliquely to the axle and substantially parallel with the axis of the cylindrical broom.

F is a U-shaped bar, in the short branches journals c c of the broom are provided with bearings.

The broom is adapted to be raised and lowered, (as in other machines of this character so that the driver may lift the broom clear `of the ground when driving to-and from his work.

`To couple Athe broom to the vehicle and yet allow it to be raised and lowered, I provide Serial No. 276,033. (No model.)

at its forward or advanced end a swinging arm G, secured rigidly at one end to the bar F at a point near the journal-bearing of the of course hinge the end of arm G directly to the platform; but the end of shaft E provides a convenient hinging-point, and it enables the broom to swing, in rising'and falling, concentrically about said shaft E..

At the rear end of the broom I provide another swinging arm H, which is in the shape of a Y, the two branches d d of which are rigidly secured to bar F, and the body of which is hinged to the platform inside ofthe ground-Wheel on that side through the medium of a hinge-plate c, secured rigidly to the frame of the platform. It will be noted as an important feature that this Y-shaped arm H is constructed in such a manner as to be very stiff in proportion toits weight, and that by employing it in connection with the bar F, as seen in Figxl, I am enabled to bring y the hinging-point, at e, inside of the ground- Wheel, notwithstanding the journal of the broom projects at this end out laterally into the track of said wheel. I thus avoid the heavy and cumbersome construction some- 1 times employed, wherein the support for this f end of the broom extends across and exterior to the ground-wheel. Inthe construction shown in Fig. 1 the two hinge-centers upon which the broom swings when it is raised and lowered are at substantially the same distance from the axis of the broom measured radially of the broom.

The broom is adapted to be raised and lowered simultaneously and uniformly at both ends by a system of levers controlled' by the driver. On the platform A is mounted ,the seat I of the driver. Its 4position is indicated in Fig. l by'dotted lines. Under this seat on the top of the platform is arranged the primary lifting-lever J, the forward end f of which may be depressed by the drivers foot.

the forward end'of the broom. This lever is fulc'rumed at g on the'underside'of the platform, and is coupled by a link h to the primary lever at one end and by a link z' to the bearing of the forward end of the broom. J 2 is the secondary lifting-lever, which lifts the rear end of `the broom. This lever is fulcrumed at g to the under side of the bed, and is coupled at one end to the primary lever by a link h and at its other end to the bearing of the rear end of the broom by a link 1J. The primary lever is provided with a counter-weight k, which may be adjusted along the lever in sucha manner as to nearly balance the weight of the broom and its attachments. In order to adjust the levers properly with respect tothe broom, the links fi i', which are or may be exactly alike, are

' each provided with a swivel-link i2, as seen in Fig. 2, which enables the length of the link Vto be varied within limits. The purpose of this is to enable the broom to beadjusted to snit the surface to be swept-that is, if. the broom becomes worn off more at one end than the other the worn end of the broom maybe lowered. It will suffice if only one ofy the links i or c" be provided with this adjusting device; but it is preferableA to use links of the same kind at both ends of the broom.

I will now describe the mechanism for communicating rotary motion to the broom from the ground-wheel. The ground-wheels B B drive the axle, operating in this` respect precisely as though they were rigidly secured to the axle. However, in order to permit of turning the vehicle, I ratchet the wheels on the axle in a well-known way and as illustrated in Fig. 2-that is to say, there is a ratchet-wheel, as j, fixed on the axle within thehollow ofthe wheel-hub, and a springpawl, as j', carriedby the hub, engages said ratchet-wheel. On the axle is secured a bevelwheel K, and on the shaft E is a bevel-wheel L, which meshes with wheelK. Thus the axle drives shaft E. On the shaft E is a sprocketwheel m, and on the journal at the forward end of the broom is a similar sprocket-wheel n. Over these passes an endless sprocket-chain o, Jthrough which shaft E drives the broom. Thus the axle C imparts its rotary motion to the broom D, and it would do this when the broom was raised from the ground as well as when it was lowered. I provide means, however, whereby the driver may at will disengage the wheel L from wheel K, and this device I will now describe with especial reference to Fig. 3. The wheel L, which will usuallybe a pinion, is splined on shaft E, and is thus adapted to be'nioved along said shaft out of 'en gagement with wheel K. To enable the driver to conveniently effect this disengagement, the long boss of wheelL is provided with a circumferential groove where it is embraced by a fork on a shifting-lever p, fulcrumed in a socket q, set in the platform A.

The free end of lever p project-s up through the socket q and is within reach of the drivers hand. The socket q projects up somewhat above the upper surface of the platform and vis flared to permit the-lever to play, the sides of the flared socket serving as stops to limit said play. To hold the lever in reach of its positionsthat is, when the wheel L is inengagement and when it is out of engagement- I provide a flanged cap-plate o", which has an aperture in it through which the lever passes and in which it loosely plays. This cap-plate has also at its opposite ends flanges r fr', one or the other of which takesover the margin of thefiared socket and holds the lever in the position set. gage or disen gage the wheels K L, (as the case may be,) he lifts the plate r, shifts the lever p, and drops the plate again.

In order to protect the shaft and spline against' accumulations of mud when the broom is at work,I provide a tubular protecting sleeve-like shield s, (see Fig. 3,) which embraces the boss of wheel L at one end and is secured thereto, so that it moves along longitudinally with the said wheel in shifting. vThis shield plays over a collar t on shaft E, said collar serving to close the end of the shield and keep out mud and dust. I

When the driver wishes to enprefer to make this tubular shield of sheet j metal of cylindrical form and to rivet or screw it to the boss of wheel L; but this mode of constructing it is not essential. It may be made of cast metal, for example, and, if desired, it can be integral with the wheel-boss. I usually provide the other journal of the broom with a sprocket-wheel n', precisely like the sprocket-wheel n. vThe object of this is to enable the broom to be conveniently taken out of its bearings and turned end for end. This will sometimes be advisable when the broom is inclined to wear away more at one end than at the other.

The broom is not designed to be lifted very high, and in order to avoid elevating the platform A and axle C too-far above the IIO` ground I usually arrange-the axle to stand only a very little above the surface or crown of the broom when the latter is new and rests on the ground. When the broom is raised, the brush-like surface will yield at the point where it comes in contact with the axle.. Y

It will be understood that in my sweeper the broom is driven from the axle precisely as if the wheels B were rigidly secured .on the axles, and I only adopt the well-known ratclieting of the wheels for the reasons explained.

I'Iaving thus described my invention, I claim IOO l. In a sweeper having a revolving broom platform and the shaft E, mounted in bear- In Witness whereof I have hereunto signed 0 ings underV the same, of the gear-wheel L, my name in the presence of two subscribing zo splined on said sha-ft E and provided with a witnesses. grooved boss to receive the fork of the shift- 5 ing-lever, the said shifting-lever, the ared socket in which the shifting-lever is ful- Witnesses: crumed, and the anged cap-plate 7, con# JOHN ALLYN, structed and operating as set forth. OHAS. B. ALLYN.

WILLIAM H. BARROWS. 

